Benefits Cut for Disney World Premium Annual Passes

The lobby of the Grand Floridian, one of Disney World’s most exclusive hotels Walt Disney World continues to aggravate its most loyal fans, as it announced in December that discounts for premium annual pass members will be cut.  The Orlando Sentinel has all the details. Since 2010 Disney World’s been pulling back a lot on the discounts it offers various pass holders.  This time, the target is premium annual passes, which already cost around $750 (Florida residents get a discount at around $600).  Now the shopping discounts premium annual pass holders receive have been cut in half. Let’s take a … Continue reading

Fall Disney Cruise Special Offers

The Disney Parks aren’t the only Disney vacation destinations that give discounts from time to time. The Disney Cruise line has its own special offers page, so today we’ll check out the upcoming deals. One special deal was actually just announced on the official Disney Parks blog. Want to have a unique Halloween that you’ve never experienced before? Take a Disney cruise over the holiday. Cruise ships transform for Halloween (and, presumably, allow all of their passengers to wear costumes). If you travel aboard a Disney ship over Halloween, expect to find: Disney characters dressed up in special seasonal duds, … Continue reading

How Disney Chooses Park Attractions

After reading my posts on Disneyland California Adventure’s now-open Cars Land, a close friend and loyal reader (hi, Becca!) asked me what I really thought about the park. She knows my feelings on the “Cars” franchise, and thought that maybe I’m feeling more negative about it than I let on in my articles. I admitted that while I’m not super excited that Disney keeps choosing to promote “Cars” in the parks, I don’t really mind. I’d rather them open another “Cars Land” at Disney World, for example, than make a “Cars 3.” That led me to wonder about the process … Continue reading

New FastPass Technology Tested at Disney World

Disney World’s always trying to improve, and one of the big complaints many guests have, at least at certain times of year, is the long lines for rides. That’s why the FastPass system exists: it allows Disney World to offer interested guests shorter wait times while making money off the idea. As part of their constant quest for improvement Disney World is trying to upgrade their FastPass system, according to The Disney Blog. They’re currently testing the next generation of the queue-jumping arrangement in the Magic Kingdom, and it involves RFID. RFID stands for radio-frequency identification, the process of using … Continue reading

New Disney Animation Resort Opens

It’s finally here: this Thursday the first phase of the Walt Disney World Art of Animation Resort opens. That means that starting in two days you can only stay in rooms in the “Finding Nemo” wing. But have no fear: by the fall the themed rooms for all of the movies will be open. The “Cars” family suites will be unveiled on June 18, August 10 sees the opening of suites from “The Lion King,” and on September 15 “The Little Mermaid” standard rooms will open for business. You can book reservations for all of these rooms right now. The … Continue reading

Early Summer Deals at Disneyland

Summer might not be officially here yet, but for all purposes it is. That means Disneyland’s finally updated its special offers page to include new deals for the summer. Southern California residents/Disneyland annual pass holders make out the best, but there are still tempting deals for anyone looking to make a Disneyland trip in the next few months. Any Southern California residents out there? You’ve probably all been to Disneyland before, but I highly recommend going in the next week. Purchase a 2-Day 1-Park per-day ticket between now and June 1, and that ticket will only cost you $99. The … Continue reading

Beat the Disney Crowds with TouringPlans.com

It’s actually possible to visit a Disney park and not have to wait in extremely long lines. Depending on the time of year you make your trip, the park isn’t that crowded. However, if you want to take your kids to Disney World and don’t want to pull them out of school in order to do so, you’re looking at visiting during one of the busy seasons: the summer, or around a big holiday. Even if you have to travel to Disney during a crowded time you still have some options for reducing time spent in lines. There is an … Continue reading

Summer Flight Insight: Disney’s a Good Deal

One of the biggest hurdles to a Disney vacation is cost. It’s probably the main reason why my family never went when I was growing up, and it’s still a big discouragement when I think about possibly going now, or once my husband and I have children. Part of that cost is, for anyone not in central Florida or southern California (or Tokyo, Paris, or Hong Kong), airfare. Most vacations that aren’t in driving distance have plane tickets as part of their price tag, but unfortunately the problem with Disney is that once you’ve paid a fortune to get there, … Continue reading

Disney Animation Convention

This summer Disney fan convention D23 is put on hold for another year. Ever since its debut it has alternated years with another sort of Disney convention: Destination D. While D23 is the House of Mouse’s answer to Comic Con, with its main focus being panels on upcoming Disney films, Destination D is a quieter conference for the Disney history buffs. The first Destination D, held in 2010, centered on the theme of Disneyland. Walt’s first park debuted 55 years ago (well, 57 now), and that year’s Destination D was all about celebrating the groundbreaking Disneyland. Can you tell I … Continue reading

Summer Disney World Deals

It may only just be April, and around here at least our weather finally started feeling spring-like again after some unseasonably warm temperatures, but it’s time to start thinking about summer. At least, it’s time to focus on summer if you’re thinking about planning a Walt Disney World trip for your upcoming vacation. The special offers on Disneyland’s website still pertain to their spring deals, but Disney World has started looking ahead to the warmer months. Today I’ll focus exclusively on the Disney World deals, and I’ll return to Disneyland in the future when their special offers site is updated. … Continue reading